THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL PORTLAND. SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 9, 1901,
STORIES:JiMMiPRE
Japanese Superstitions. Up
set by a Boy Who Spent
I Enough .Time in America
to Learn the Trui About
Evil Spirits ... ,
Hoiv He Captured One of
the Most Powerful Spirits
and Then Brought His
Family Here to Live and
Make Money '
GOOD
nrOMYO SHAM AKIKA was Japanese boy,
I " who, when a few years old, was carried out
sea iu a small boat and afterward picked
v . up by an American whaling-ship which took
liira to Now Bedford, where he remained until he
was fourteen years old, when he went back to Japan,
and sodn reached his own home in the province of
Now, as you may well imagine. Tomyo had learn-
ed many things while in America that made him' :
far different from all the other Japanese lads, and
Among them was the fact that there is no puch
thing as a demon oT a witch. But, on the other
hand,. he had forgotten that all the Japanese chil
dren believe fervently in all such things, for, while
he had been learning to read and write, as well as
studying" about electricity, chemistry and physi
ology, all these things had been driven, out of his
mind. v - . -
! After his parents had recovered fromtheir fjrst
.feelings of delight and astonishment they began to
ask all manner of questions of their much-traveled -son,
and many, were the expressions of amazement
they, let escaoo when they fully realized what ha
had seen and learned. Finally his father declared:'
"You have certainly been under the protection of
O-Kuni-Nushi the Guardian! VVe feared that the
Kappa had got you, for we knew that you had been
in the boat on the river." , v
"But tell me," Acclaimed Tomyo, "whit is'a
Kappa?" ' - k . ,
; "What, have you forgotten all that you knew
when a child?" asked his mother. ,"Do you not re
member how frightened you were when it was said
that the Kappa was abroad?"- ,t . f . ,
"No, I guess I have forgotten all about the gen
tleman," replied Tomyo. .
, "Dear, dear, how surprising !" cried Grandpa
Shamakira. "He will have to learn all-over again.
The Kappa is a dreadful monster, a deadly and ter
rible creature that dwells in lakes and rivers. It has
tho body of a ten-year-old child, but is covered with
hair like a monkey. Its eyes are bright and pierc
ing, and it can talk just as we do, although it is not -human.
It has a cavity in its skull like a cup which
is always filled with water, and it comes out from
the river at night to steal melons and egg f rui4.." ;
"What a strange taste 1" cried Tomyo, laughingrt
"Do not laugh," said his Grandpa, solemnly, look
ing quite pained and shocked. "The Kappa is no f
laughing matter, let me tell you I You- might meet
him!"..
"What will he do to me?" asked the boy. -1
"1$ invites men to wrestle with him," and, puny
as ho js, he always overcomes them unless it hap
pens that the water in his skull-cup be spilled, when
all his strength fades away instantly. But to de
feat him is as bad as to be defeated, for the result is
loss of reason and a gradual wasting away.- Thiv
river-urchin, for that's what Kappa means, will also
attack people in boats and suck tneir blood ; there
fore we feared that he had caught you. Up in tbe
Uma district he comes every year and claims two
victims; and this is proved, for two peoplo every
year, out of all who bathe in the lake, fall sick and
waste away in pining and sorrow." -
"Maybe they have malaria," said Tomyo, who re
fused to take the Kappa as seriously as the rest of
the family, "Besides, who ever saw it, I'd like to
know?" .
His father, with a pale, face that showed great
fear at hig son's bold words, got up at onco and
going to the door quickly hung up a crab's shell
over the lintel, which is supposed to avert evil luck
in Japan just as a horse-shoe was once supposedpn
our own land to perform the same kind office. .
When Tomyo asked to have this action explained,
the whole family was almost in tears over his dread
ful ignorance of the most necessary things.
"It is pitiful," said his mother, "and more than
that, it is dangerous, for the boy, now that be is
big and strong, may venture into fearful danger
without being prepared by, the proper charms and
incantations, and, maybe, come to some dreadful
end. Yet, it is very late to begin to teach a child .
things which he should have learned even as be
first walked. , J, fear he will never acquire knowK .
edge." ,' v' :: T.'" ; " ' 1
' Tomyo was beginning to ' worry,1' thinking that
perhaps there really was a ohance of his f ailing to
learn all Japanese knowledge, and he asked: ':
"Who can teach me these tilings, and what are,
the dangers that are to be feared and avoidad! ' I
have been in many different kinds of danger oV
ready." ' ' ' ' ' - "
"They are very numerous, indeed," replied Grand
pa Shamakira. "First, you might, unless warned,
touch a sessho-seki, or death-stone." -
"Never heard of one," said TomyOj carelessly. ..
"Seel Ah, what awful danger he is in!" cried his
mother. -
"That is a stone which has been bewitched by a
fox. Any living thing that touches it will perish!"
added Grandpa, solemnly.
"Ha, ha! - Bewitched vby a fox!" cried Tomyo.
"Why,' I used to have a tame fox. He followed mo
like a dog."
All the family shrank back and looked at him "
horrified and frightened. 1
1 After a moment his father said, slowly: "Perhaps- r
in' that far-away, strange land the curse may not
work, ne seems to be perfectly healthy." ;
;. "Or, maybe, somehow,,foxes are different there,'";
added Grandpa, looking carefully at the boy, for
such a strange thing was unheard of as a boy hav-
ing .companionship -with a fox, an animal dreaded
and -feared more than any. other, unless it be a
badger. .
- "Tliey are just exactly the same," and I am going "
to get one here as soon as I can catch a cub," de- .
clared Tomyo. : " ' ' . . '
' "Let us go to the good Shinto priest with him!",
said his father,, and so in a sort of sad and solemn ,
ijrocession they marched to the temple, a beautiful-',.
y carved building standing amid ' great gnarled
trees and surrounded by a lovely garden in which'
thousands of flaming chrysanthemums grew. ..When
the old priest, Yorimasa, heard, of Tomyo's igno
rance he held up his hands in pious alarm, and said : '
; -"Dcarl Dear! What eball we do! Jle is alrcady
uSSf5&-r . , '
The -Picture
almost a man and knows nothing of the perils sur
rounding us!"
"Yes, Father Yorimasa, he probably does not
ever know what a badger is," said Mrs. Shamakira,
tearfully. . '
"Well, that's what we, boys used to call cats in
America," said Tomyo. ' ,
The old priest shuddered and said:
. "The badger is not as dangerous as the fox,, my
som The badger plays many a sad trick oiLUShut
he is rarely dangerous, lie turns himself into a
teapot under our noses, or goes about on moon
light nichts beating a tattoo on his paunch V,ko a
drummer, or knocking at doors to frighten lonely
women into fits as well as throwing things all about
the house if the door" happens to, be open". Many a
man has been badly frightened by him, as well as
many children, when coming upon him in a dark
road, but the fox can assume human form and also
enter into the body of a man. If the fox lives near
a graveyard he can become a beautiful maidenj also.
We have had many people in this district who have
been possessed by a f ox, who ucted exactly like that
dread animal, barking, running away from dogs
and losing all human attributes." .
" can't Bee what good that does the fox," said
Tomyo, smiling. ' ' '
His parents held up their hands in horror. The
priest went on: v , .
"If you stray abroad at night you will soon lose
that smile of contempt ! You may meet the awful
Kama-itachi !"' . "
"And who is he?" asked the boy. .
"That is the sickle-imp, a demon who cuts off
women's hair and wounds men in the arms and
legs."
"Well, that's worse than what the fox does," said
Tomyo. "If I meet him I'll run." . ,
"Yes, and he will trip you up and bruise you!"
cried his mother, shuddering.
"You must flee to the shade of a yenoki tree,"
said the priest.
"But I. don't know a yenoki tree frcm an axis
tree," said Tomyo. "Ill have to learn all about
trees, too, I suppose, in order to keep off all these
spooks and things."
"Certainly," said 'tho priest. "You must learn
what plants will charm the demons and cure pains
and aches, such as how to use the oak-leaf for tooth
ache and the yenoki leaf for chills, the cedar and
camphor leaves for nightmaro and stomach-ache
and so forth. Pieces of sacred tombstones ground
to powder cure consumption, and cherry-bark will
make you invisible to Oni." .';'-'. .:-v-:v' .
"Who's that gentleman?"' asked; the v irreverent
boy. . - v::' ; r.
. "He is another demon; horned, with an awful
mouth filled with' sharp -fangs, glaring ..eyes, ..flat
nose, three-fingered hands and three-toed feet with
silver nails, and he wears a tiger rkin," - it ; .
."' "Geel" cried Tomyo. '"Did you ever see him?"-'
."Ninigi forbid 1" cried the priest with a shudder,
Covering his eyes with hio hand. "I hope T never,
will, but I can show you a fine portrait of him
painted three hundred years ago by Goshimaki, the
great artist." 1 ' '
"Is he the worst demon of all?" asked Tomyo.
"Oh, no; there is a far greater and more terriblo
one, called the-Tengu ; This one is immense in size
and of enormous strength Withthe body of a man
he has tho face and wings of a great black bird,
and when he moves it is as a storm. Some say that
the Tengu is a woman, and that she has ears like
an, elephant, a nose so long that she can hang men
on it and she flies a thousand miles without tiring.
Her teeth bite through iron. I know not but that
there may be female Tengus, but I am sure of the
male one. Even now of late, he-has. been-heard
f rom ' in the mountains of ; Yamanash:, which; is
somewhere in the West, I know not where."
; "Oh, I know where it is," said Tomyo. ; v
"What l"rexclaimed the priest. "Do you know
about a place you have never seen?" . p '
"Certainly. Didn't I study, geography and
wouldn't I study most about Japan, after the United
Statesf Certainly. . I can draw a map of this coun
try, like a map-maker; But I would just like to' see
that picture of an Oni, if you will show it to me."
J Father Yorimasa showed him the picture, and it
waa terrifying enough to make a cat shiver, but the
Shamakira family scarcely dared td look closely at
it for fear of its baneful influence. Then the priest
showed a- picture of a Tengu, aa awful creature; a?
Taken Just as the Tengu Seized the Girl
impossible as it was hideous, and Tomyo, taking j
out his pencil, made a sketch of it which caused his
parents and sisters to regard him with some awe,
- especially when he wrote, in English what the priest
y had said beneath the picture. They were much im
pressed, because none of them could do more than
sign their names.
"The Tengu," said Father Yorimasa, "will dart
down upon a man and carry him away sometimes,
- but ho usually bewitches men and entices them to
the mountains, from whence they return many"
days, afterward, with all their wits gone. This hapt
pened over in Jliei-zan only last year to a man
named Kiuchi. I saw him when he returned from
the mountain! and he was surely demented." .
. ' Maybo something else got him," suggested Tom
yo. "Jim-jams, or he went nutty, eh?
"I' suppose thoao are American demons? Per
. haps they have powe here, but probably not," Baid
the priest. ' : . ;
"Say, I wonder what you folks will say when you
" see an automobile whizzing past I" exclaimed Tom
yo. "My friendrPeterHughes," is" going 'to bring:
his machine here next month and wo are to take a
journey all over Japan, and if you don't run for
' some of your spells with the most ginger in them,
then 111 lose my guess. How many more bogies can
you trot out?"
"I cannot understand the boy's words !" sail
' Father Yorimasa. "He speaks as one making rid-
dies." " - - - : ; .
"Well, I am obliged to you for the instruction,"
said Tomyo, and then he gave the priest a dollar,
which i caused that worthy old man to fall into a
profuse perspiration, as that sum was more than
ho had received in two months as salary.
"If I see a Tengu," added the boy, "I'll take a pop .
at him with my revolver and perhaps knock him.
. If. I do, I'll bring him, up and we will have him
stuffed and set up in the temple." - , . - t
Then he followed his parents, leaving the priest
looking after him with a funny smile on his face,
' for the smart old fellow knew very well what non
sense he had been, talking and admired the bright,
unterrified lad.
Mr. Shamakira was silent, for ho had many fear
ful apprehensions in regard to his son's safety in
that land so full of all sorts of demons, but he took
'. care to touch the trunk of every sacred tree which
t was .passed "on" Uie way home. Even there they
still talked of other spooky things, such as tho
dog-demon and the witch-cat, of rats that charm
babies and bring money into tho house; also tho
Namazu, a giant catfish that is buried in the earth
and when it moves its tail causes the earthquakes
that afflict that land. . " ' ; : :
' When Tomyo asked why it never worried America
they shook their heads in silence, and when he told
. them how ridiculous it was to. suppose a fish held
up the world they looked at him in wonder, forf al
though he explained that he had journeyed com-
pletely around theworld, they could not conapre
T hend that it was round at all.
' "You may laugh" at us, but it is wrong," said his
mother. "We know there are all sorts of demons."
' .
"Surely," added - his father. ".Why, there aro
families here who have the blood of dog-demons in
their veins. Nobody will marry into such families,
and, for that matter, into no family until this is
. looked irito."If one of these people but looks at
food and covets i the food spoils' at once." ;
"Huh! What, else do you. know about them?"
asked Tomyo; "How do you know one. of. them
from an ordinary person?" : i
"The priest knows. Still there are many ways of
distinguishing them. ' The most "common trait that
a dog-demon man has is an outrageous desire al
, ways to have the very best of everything at once." .
."Hal ha !"t laughed the boy. "There must be a
lot of them in the United States, for pretty nearly,
everybody there has that failing."-' i
His father shuddered again and made a mystic
mark in the air. When Tomyo asked the meaning
of the gesture, he replied :
"I madd the sign or mark that means 'Hence,
-demon,' for I fear that your words will bring a
curso up6n us." ' ' ' ,
"But . you also whispered something," persisted
Tomyo. - . -
r "Yes, I repeated tho.pofent words of the mysJiV
phrase, 'A .descendant of Sayemon Kenjuro of
Izumo,' as we are taught to do ia times of great
' peril." , " ,
Tomyo looked at him in amazement and wonder.
Then he said: "Why not. say 'Aina mana mon
mike'?" ," ;- ' ..
"That sounds very well, also,"-replied his f ather.
'I will learn that spell also, if you will teach it to
me." ' :
Tomyo was so disgusted that ho went to bod, al
though he had fully intended to go abroad just to'
see if there really were badgers, about, as he' had
never seen me of those interesting animals, which
somewhat resembles our woodchuck or ground-hog.
The next day after a good sleep he felt more1 like
overlooking the beliefs of his benighted family
although had he lived in cor tain. places in America
or England he might havo met many people fully
as credulous and as timid. He found his mother
' when he aroso in the act of climbing a short ladder,
and when he went to her assistance and asked her
.what she was doing, she replied: :,
"I am going to see how the soja bean is thriv
ing." "Going to have it for breakfast?" he asked.
She got down from the ladder and stared at him;
then she said: "I am trying to cure your father's
well." " ' ; . - -v, .
"Gee !" exclaimed , Tomyo. "With the ladder or
the bean?" ,
- Then Mrs. Shamakira explained to her ignorant
son that it was a charm. . The soja bean ia rubbed
upon the wen on the seventh of July and then it is
planted the bean, not the wen, remember in tho
hollow of the second tile on the first row of tho
southern side of the roof, and when the bean begins
to sprout boiling water. Js poured upon Jt so . that
it withers away, and the wen disappears at tbe same
time; Do not suppose for a moment that I am in
venting all these things," for this is actually -done
as are all things I tell you about, in Japan to-dav.
I have seen them all myself.-
Wlien Tomyo's mother also told him that his fa
ther was that moment abroad seeking , a white dox
whose blood was to be smeared up'on all the en
trances to the house to protect its inmates from
the evil that might come from Tomyo's jests, ho.
grew indignant; but realizing that it was simply
impossible to alter their beliefs, he resolved to pre
vent such useless cruelty. Taking out of his pocket
a wrinkled horse-chestnut which he had carried
from America to show to his parents as one of the
American products, he held it up and said: '
"All your precautions are unnecessary, for I al
ready have a charm that protects us all from every
. form of evil. This is the sacred horse-chestnut, or
'Buckeye,' and whoever carries it is secure even
from whangdoodles or jabberwocks."
His mother was so .delighted that she ran off to
search for Mr. Shamakira and toll him the goo i
news, and in a few minutes Tomyo saw them re
turning, both of their faces showing great relief.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" asked hid fa
ther, after ho had held the sacred buckeye, smellcd
it and rubbed it on his forehead. "Will this prevent
choking on a fishbone so that you don't have to say
a spell? Will it Ward off the' hiccoughs as well as
burning moxat Will it cure nose-bleeding as well
as putting on the head a piece of paper folded
into eight folds and dipped in fresh well-water? Ti
Jt as serviceable as writing one's name on paper
and throwing it into the river for headaches?"
; "Beats 'em. all clean out of sight!" said Tomyo,
earnestly. "Only it must never be breathed on by a
tadpolo or it will shrink into nothing !"
"That settles it 'for it sounds like a real Japa
nese prescription, and all of the family almos:
worshiped the dried Up buckeye after that.
As time passed Tomyo became known all over tha
district as the. boy who was not afraid of demons
and hobgoblins, and people stared at him in won
der wherever he wemVlIe would roam abroad in
the cool autumn nigbts far' from home and through
' tbe deep woods, or away up in the mountains seek
ing for the wary fox with his shotgun, hoping to
' come upon -Mr.' Badger, too, but, he never found
either animal, which soon convinced his. parents
and relatives that he was dreaded and avoided by
these creatures. Tho whole village slept now . in
peace,' for with ' such a guardian as- tho magio
buckeye what was to be dreaded? V! ' , . r
At the end of the month came Tomyo's undo
front far away Hitachi, on the seashore, Hirata
Ichikawa, who had- a dire tale to tell about a
Tengu. The same day also arrived Tcter Ilughrs
with hU automobjjo, and tho two set the town wild.
XTncleHirata was in love, but tlie Tengu had
come in the night and placed a writing on his door
warning him to forsake his girl, Ozome Kitichi, at
once, or be troubled mightily. She also was warned,
but-neither paid any atentidn to the mandate; an
other came,' and then one night Ozome met tho
awful thing on the road. He' was black and taM,
with a Eawk-like face, and his inkyueJ wings
swept tbe ground as he moved -toward her. Ozoma
fainted as she reached her home, and the next day
all Hitachi shut up shop and stayed indoors..
Then' Uncle Hirata heard - about his nephew
Tomyo and his powers and came to ask for nelp.
Peter Hughes waa anxious to Btart off that night
for Hitachi, as he had run over a cat on the road
and knew that he would have the whole population
after, him, as that is a dreadful catastrophe .in
Japan. So it was decided before they, slept to start
by-daylight.--; : "" "
When they came to Hitachi Uncle' Hirata direct
ed them to his house, and there' they found tha
mayor and all the officials, who welcomed them with
speeches and other ceremonies. The Tengu hact
been seen. the night before by some children as it
went up the mountain, and all were terrified. Tom
yo, after he had shown them the wonderful nut,
told them to wait until night and then he and Petej
would hunt the Tengu.
'At ' night they had a sort of meeting called a
hiyaku-monogatari, where a hundred imps in a
circle surrounded them and each told a story about
hobgoblins, after each of .which a light was put
out . and when the last one vanished some good
spirit was expected to come and assist them; but
.,1 . l ' . I J rp
Dy rune ociock noyung naving nappeuea, anjjf
arose and said it was time to go Tengu-hunting.
It was very dark in the road, shaded as it was by
great trees, and without lighting the lamps on tho
automobile they moved , up toward the mountain
very silently behind Ozome,-who had been induced
'to firoaheaain the hope that the demon would b
tempted to appear. She carried a red paper lantern,
which shook in her trembling hand", like a firefly,
but which made all darker around tho circlo of
"": ruddy light. 7,;fr-V-"
Finally they came to a spot where they drew tha
;, automobile UP under the trees to wait, but imme
diately they heard a noise from the village below,
shouts, cries and shrieks breaking the silence sud
; denly. They suspected at once that a demon had
appeared there, and in a few minutes they saw
something coming rapidly up the road. As it ncared
( them they could distinguish the form of a man."
very tall and with a strangely-shaped head, behind
' whom stretched out a pair of immenso wings.
"There he comes," whispered Peter, getting ufl
the shotgun. "IH take a crack at him." ? - .
"No," said Tomyo, 'wait and we will follow him,"
1 He is on stilta-see? He can't go, very far after hej
; strikes the rough hillside." ; ,
A moment afterward they were moving along be
hind him silently, but soon they hastened, for they
" heard Ozome scream. .They came bowling along,
and as they turned a corner saw the girl in tho
grasp of the demon. He had alighted from hia
stilts end seized her and was about to carry her np.
' the mountainside. A-sharp. toot from the auto
mobile horn caused him to turn in affright, to s?ej
. that strange object pursuing him. Tomyo-was rua
; ning the machine, and Peter had his camera ready,
: and as the demon turned, he touched off his flash
light pistol with a Bnap, illuminating the forest
and showing the Tengu as plainly as in daylight. t
The demon started, dropped the girl, and in his
fright ran back down the road running straight to
ward his home, as all terrified creatures, whethct
animals or men, always do.
The boys quickly picked Ozome up, placed her in
the automobile and then pursued the demon at full
speed. So rapidly did they go they scarcely per
ceived one of the wings lying in the road before it
was passed, and then, before they could abate theic
soeed, they came upon him running, but somewhat
r slower, toward the town. The automobile hit him
as Tomyo checked the speed and it sent him flying
into the air, turning a dozen summersaults oven
and over until ho rolled into the ditch beside the
" road.
Just then Uncle Hirata appeared, armed with 4
long sword, for he had followed the demon up hill,
and he arrived. as Peter lighted the automobile
lamps, which showed tho demon all tangled tip xa
his , one remaining wing and groaning dismally,
Hirata instantly tore tho great bird-head from hint
and then shouted: "
"It is Oka Yakoya, the blacksmith! Oh, tho vil
lain! Ho has pretended to be tho "Tengu!" Then hd
wanted to cut Oka's head off at once. -; .,
!M v ' :AlzP
; ' Tomyo bundled the man into the automobile and!
" carried him to the village, where the people soon
surrounded him with all sorts of exclamations of
amazement. The blacksmith was bruised all-over,
and black and blue from head to foot, but h? was
, , quite conscious and very much frightened, for ho
was in danger of being sent to prison. t .
Ho confessed that ho had played at being tlw do
mon in order to frighten the lovers into separating,
so that he might, perhaps, secure tho lovely Ozome;
and he had made his wings of leather 5 and tho
bird's-head, according to tho pictures in tho books,
to "make his appearance more hideous, but he prom
ised, if they released him, to leave Hitachi at on?o
and forever. So ho was allowed to go home, whilo
the people, delighted to. find that tho demon wan
not real, made a feast of rejoicing and forgave tho
bad blacksmith. - Next day, after Uncle Hirata and
Ozome were married, Tomyo and Tctor went away
carrying with them tho blessings of all.:
f But Tomyo had rnado up his mind '.hat ho had
. enough of bogies and demons, so, when tho trip wi
concluded, ho returned to his homo and then bado
. hia. family pack upi for ho' wished them all to coino
to America and learn how to get along without
.charms. and incantations. Thoy went with hirr, find
nowin their littlo Japanese store, th?y arc tnkir
"more money than thoy ever saw before, whilj j,fr.
Shamakiradeclares that he simply has no time f
anything but. business, whifh is only anotlf v ''
of saying thut harma don't work in ll.U wn.t'r;',
- ' ' , AYALT McDUL'GAl U ,